Quality Over Quantity? — What I Read in 2023 (And How Little I Did)
Reflections on a year I read too little
2023. A year I read too little. Ouch.
But something is better than nothing, at least when it comes to reading.
Here’s everything I read this year. Enjoy yourself.
‘Slaughterhouse-Five’ (Kurt Vonnegut)
Vonnegut’s ultimate novel includes time travel and alien abductions. But oddly enough, it rarely feels like a science-fiction story.
Protagonist Billy Pilgrim travels to different periods within his mind, witnessing every event he has ever undergone, but unable to change or modify them in the slightest.
The reader can’t help but doubt the veracity of Pilgrim’s episodes, which in my opinion, makes for a more engaging reading.
In Slaughterhouse-Five, Vonnegut scrutinizes the meaning of life, asking himself how it is possible to exist in such a morbid and depressing reality, and whether it’s worth the effort or not to do it.
Despite the depth of these inquiries, Kurt Vonnegut manages to add harsh humor in almost every sequence.
Highly recommended!
‘A Child Called ‘It’’ (Dave Pelzer)
TW/CW: violence and abuse
Unnerving. Unsettling. Disgusting. Frustrating. Loathable. Discouraging.
If you have a quarter of humanity within your soul, you’ll find this book hard to digest.
A Child Called ‘It’ is a first-hand account of the abuse author Dave Pelzer experienced during his childhood at the hands of his mother.
Physical, emotional, psychological harm. The more you read, the worse the experiences get.
On more than one occasion, I felt like throwing the book out of the window in a feast of anger.
It’s a book that you’ll hate to love; and one that, ultimately, contains a faithful message.
‘Days at the Morisaki Bookshop’ (Satoshi Yagisawa)
Boring.
It’s about a woman who moves to her uncle’s bookshop. She finds it a disgrace initially, but a hunger for reading appears and drastically increases as days pass.
There’s a gnarly love story between the protagonist’s uncle and aunt, and topics related to meaning-searching are discussed.
Nonetheless, I found the reading colorless. The story is simple, but not in an assertive way.
If you are a beginner reader who enjoys unremarkable plots, you might give it a try.
After all, the book is not exactly bad. It just wasn’t my cup of coffee.
‘The Canterbury Tales’ (Geoffrey Chaucer)
Read for a second time.
I still consider it one of my favorite books ever.
The Canterbury Tales is a compilation of short stories that go from tragic romance to scatological comedy; and from faith in religion to sex-related humor.
I recommend reading R.M. Lumiansky’s translation, which assertively combines modern and old English. It’s pleasantly challenging to read since it has a wide vocabulary but it’s easy to follow at the same time.
‘Bowie — Una Biografía’ (María Hesse/Franz Ruiz)
A compelling and original book.
Not only it’s a biography of one of shock rock’s most relevant figures, but it is also narrated as if it were an autobiography.
That is to say, the book retells David Bowie’s main life events as if they had been written by Bowie himself.
On top of that, the pages are packaged with lovely, colorful drawings.
It feels more like a piece of art than an actual book, but that is a good thing.
‘Courage Is Calling’ (Ryan Holiday)
Taking action is bravery.
Not taking it is bravery too.
I love the paradoxes of philosophy, especially when they are explained in such a familiar way, as Ryan Holiday always does.
‘The Tipping Point’ (Malcolm Gladwell)
Here, author Malcolm Gladwell thoroughly analyses the reasons why something becomes massive and popular. It turns out there are always little details behind the skyrocketing of every big event.
The book was okay, but I prefer a hundred times Gladwell’s other book Outliers, which is a must for any artist or creator.
‘Animal Farm’ (George Orwell)
Animal Farm has been analyzed a million times already. My description would serve no purpose.
I loved the almost “childish” form in which the book was narrated, despite the seriousness of the story.
Short and direct. Highly recommended.
‘La Revolución Sexual Del Rock’ (Jordi Bianciotto)
Not a lot going on here. Just a book that explains the sexual revolution that emerged in Rock music, and how it developed through the years, reaching other genres such as rap and pop.
Few interesting things here, unfortunately, but the book has a picture of Madonna showing her tits, which is rather nice.
Oh, and one of Iggy Pop completely naked.
Quite relevant, if you ask me.
‘Beyond Freedom & Dignity’ (B.F. Skinner)
I’ll be honest, I didn’t fully grasp the concepts discussed within this book.
Maybe it was a bit advanced considering my psychology knowledge is rather poor.
Or maybe I’m just plain stupid? Meh…
‘Chicago Stories’ (Various)
Various stories from different authors that have one setting in common: Chicago.
That’s it.
What? Were you expecting something else?
‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ (Erich Maria Remarque)
I watched the 2022 movie of the same name which blew my mind. So for me, reading the book became a must.
This is the story of a group of young German soldiers battling during the First World War.
It’s crude and heartbreaking. But despite the sorrows and soul-shattering events, certain situations appear where the soldiers seem to live them to the fullest, like in one chapter where they hunt, cook, and eat a goose.
Reading it is not a walk in the park, though. It may be fiction, but it gets as realistic as any biography.
Thank you for spending your limited time reading the opinions of a completely random stranger whom you’ll probably never meet face to face.
If it makes you feel better, I do appreciate it. Thank you :)
Have a joyful 2024!
Check my 2022 top picks if you liked this article
Or better still, check which book-related article you want to read from my list
